Digital Simulation Of Project Aqua Released

Meridian Energy has released a new digital drive-by simulation (on VHS and DVD) of the proposed Project Aqua scheme. This is part of Meridian’s commitment to continually find new ways to make it easier for people to understand what is proposed so they can get involved and have their say.

Project Aqua is a proposed hydro-electric scheme that would run along the south side of the lower Waitaki Valley. It would generate enough low-cost, renewable electricity to power the equivalent of about 375,000 households in an average year and about 250,000 households in a very dry year (a very dry year is a 1-in-20 year event).

The high-tech simulation shows how the Project Aqua scheme would look between 15 and 20 years after it were built.

“It’s very difficult to visualise a development of such a huge scale. This simulation is the first time we have had a way of showing how Project Aqua would look to people if they were driving along parts of state highway 83 in the Waitaki Valley,” says Alan Seay, spokesperson for Meridian Energy.

Christchurch company Truescape (formally Digital Presentations) spent hundreds of hours developing the simulation.

“There was no guesswork involved in the development of this simulation. Literally hundreds of digital photos were taken, along with an hour of video footage so the buildings and landscape which already exist are shown true to life on the simulation,” says Alan Seay. The narrated simulation is in full colour and is seven and a half minutes long. It includes four separate sections, including the intake and outfall structures, and shows how the proposed Project Aqua canal and power stations would integrate with the landscape and river in the lower Waitaki Valley.

The simulation is available for viewing at the Project Aqua Office and Information Centre in Kurow. The public can also request copies, either on VHS or in DVD format, by calling 0800 AQUA INFO (0800 2782 4636) or by emailing a request to aqua@meridianenergy.co.nz

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